Chapter 7: Chapter Eleven: Countdown Clock

Chapter Eleven

Countdown Clock

 

SCOTTY’S BRIEF ENCOUNTER with the extraterrestrial data terminal convinced him and Diego to stop their investigation of the Astraeus Laboratory and the Star Nexus, whose secrets seemed to be the envy of mysterious and perhaps dangerous men. He wanted to forget what he’d heard in the exoculture room, but those words haunted him nightly. Who was that person, and what did he want? Was he a space traveler, or was he hiding on Fossil Crater? One thing was for sure, he’d had access to Life Found a Way when it was in the Procyon star’s planetary system.  

            “I’ve been saying it all along,” Diego said the next day. “There are other people out there. We’re not the only ones who have rocket ships.”

            Both Jasmine and Madison were still a little shook up, and they both agreed that the accomplishments of Galactic Research were in the process of being eclipsed by the misdeeds of a villain. The data terminal and the mystery surrounding it might be the undoing of a magnificent research team, and they had only scratched the surface of the Exoplanet program; and who knew to what heights the Cybernetics program would soar to.

            Scotty and his faction were disappointed that they hadn’t discovered any information regarding the Star Nexus, so they continued combing the archived data records for anything useful. That endeavor had become quite easy for Scotty too, since receiving his new, updated Helix. However, his free time was in short supply because of his obligation to Doctor Stryker and the Geneware.

            However, Joseph had an emergency of his own, as he’d recently been added to a short list of researchers who were in line to be placed on the Drop List, and he did not want that to happen.

“Scott, if I don’t accept a Geneware build soon, I’m done,” Joseph had said. “Write something simple. Change the color of my hair. I’ll take anything.”

            He smiled at his brother’s lack of faith. “Joey, you are a cyborg. You can change the way you look and the way you think to obtain super-human traits. Your cells can be modified. Did you forget about the Nebula Cloud vision build?”

            “Oh, yeah, but why won’t a build install here?” 

            “I’m not sure, but Jerold and Diego did write it. I’m gonna let you write the next one. You need to learn how to write builds, so, well you know.”

            “Sure, when do we start.”

            “In a day or so. I’ll let you know.”

            Stryker had pushed Scotty to his limits too. The builds were becoming increasingly larger and complicated, and he had a hard time understanding the purpose behind some of the modifications. Sparta and Hermes wondered if Stryker knew something that no one else knew, and Scotty agreed. If the interstellar data terminal wasn’t a hoax, Fossil Crater and all of the extraterrestrial animals whose home it was, were in danger. With the wellbeing of his siblings a priority and the thought of something bad occurring to the biodome floating around in his brain, Scotty was very motivated to help develop the Cybernetics program.  

            Then, during a particularly long and grueling weekend of writing modifications and upgrades, Stryker let a bit of information slip. He’d given Hayley Kita an earful after she created a build that she could have utilized to change the shape of the Bat-eared Foxes’ whiskers from perfectly straight to something that looked like a handlebar moustache.

            “You should make better use of your time. This is the reason I am reinstating Aldrich Thompson’s architect privileges. It is imperative that we get the TRAPPIST-1 fire moth build written and broadcasted by next weekend.”

            Victoria Spinster laughed at that.

            “Aldrich is gonna help write that build,” she said without looking up from her Helix. “It’ll never get done. He’ll be too busy bossing everybody around.”

            Scotty had his own concerns and he made them public there in the Geneware server room.

            “I still believe he was the person who attacked the Pollux monkey build and damaged my Helix.”

            “Do not get sidetracked by petty differences. Besides, myself and Samantha will be here to referee if he gets too bold. We need to be firing on all cylinders as we write the Fire Moth build.”

            Such a worthy adult, thought Scotty, but everyone his age believed Aldrich was trouble waiting to happen, so who could possibly be helping him at this point?

            Both Hayley and Victoria headed out to the theater to watch the blockbuster movie, The Last Space Pirate, but Scotty walked to Cyborg Park, where he found Jasmine and Joseph conducting a photojournalistic exploration of the Pleiades star cluster. Madison and Diego were watching close, as they had loaned out their equipment.

            “Don’t stomp or jump,” Diego said when Scotty walked onto the patio. “The camera needs to be stationary. So, how did it go today?”

            Scotty sat on the bench and told them about Aldrich’s unexpected return to the Cybernetics program.

            Madison walked to Scotty. “You can’t quit now.”

            “You’ll have to watch his every move,” Diego said.

            “Drop something on his hands.”

            “They’ll give me the boot for that.”

            “Not this again,” Jasmine said, “if you go, all three of us will go.”

            Before they could finish pleading their case, Jerold ran onto the patio with a hat pulled down to his eyes because his hair had been transformed from straight to super curly with what Scotty knew was an illegal hair morph build. He probably chose to wait until dark to catch the shuttlecraft to the park.

            Stifled laughter rippled away from everyone but for Scotty who immediately opened his Helix and accessed the Geneware server. He located the file and deleted the entire build; the administrator was Aldrich Thompson. Jerold’s hair returned to its natural texture, and he took the hat off, fuming.

            “Who did that?” he asked, moving his gaze around the patio.

            “Aldrich,” Scotty said. “The staff has put him back in Geneware development.”

            “And this is what he’s doing with it!” Jerold snapped.

            “Tell on him,” Madison said, and crossed the patio to where Jerold was standing and shaking. “He can’t be allowed to get away with this.”

            “Oh, no! Not as long as he has access to the Geneware servers.”

            Scotty scrambled to his feet and approached Jerold, “We have him right where we want him now. If we don’t report this, he’ll do something worse, like harming the extraterrestrials at the biodome.”

            “And you know he’ll do it too,” Diego said. “The extraterrestrials are the only reason any of us are here anyway.”

            “Don’t try to explain the mission to me, Diego,” Jerold chided. “I’m an Astrogeologist, and I’ve attended more Spacecraft Recovery Assemblies than any of you.”

            “Have you forgotten what he tried to do to the Arcturus honey bees?”

                “Nobody is trying to harm the extraterrestrials.”

            Then something unanticipated happened. Scotty spied a pulsating icon in his Helix; one that was new and out of the ordinary. He touched it and reeled in both excitement and wonder as a miniature star chart populated before the statue. The other five approached to get a closer look because they’d never seen this star chart.

            It was several hundred pinpoints of light, twisting and curving to create an orb the size of a beach ball. Some of the tiny lights were white, a few were blue, and quite a lot were orange. A very detailed star chart it seemed, and as they examined it, a single pinpoint of light spawned into existence, and Scotty imagined that a planetary system had been added and the chart was updating to reflect the newest discovery.

            “This is not exactly a star chart,” Scotty said.

            Jasmine shook her head to agree. “Then what is it?”

            “It is an uplink to the Star Nexus,” A voice emanated from the darkness. Then Sparta walked onto the patio and joined the others.

            Scotty’s mouth fell open, and after a few moments, he said quite a lot.

            “How did this get on my Helix, Sparta? I’m not supposed to have access to the Star Nexus. It’s a data collecting software program that is super top-secret, and I don’t have the clearance.”

            “I am not at liberty to discuss such information.”

            Madison approached Scotty and the uplink and explored its capabilities. She used her fingers to zoom in to a single pinpoint of light and discovered a star boasting a planetary system with a custom icon floating at the top of the system map. She touched the icon and watched as various types of media spilled down the display in Scotty’s Helix.  

 

New element discovered on 26 Draconis A 1 a.

Cell morphing study to conclude in Requiem’s Outpost.

 

            “This is it!” she shouted. “The Star Nexus is how we’ve been sharing information in real time.”

            Sparta smiled at that. “It is how we communicate in real time.”

            “A system that we can use to download information on our discoveries and shows us where…where,” that was all Diego could say.

            “Where the other research stations are located,” Sparta said. “Where our robotic astronauts are located.”

            Everyone was suddenly at a loss for words.

            “Unfortunately, it could be destroyed along with all of Fossil Crater,” Sparta said, sounding unusually shaky.

            “What are you talking about?” 

            “A new weapon has been activated, and it is embedded in the data terminal. I discovered it an hour ago.” He said, and opened his Helix. In the center of the display was a countdown clock displaying the number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds. It appeared as though they had only a little more than nine days to locate the time bomb. “It will trigger an electromagnetic pulse weapon. It is a new technology that will destroy all of our programs.”

            “Who’s doing this, Sparta,” Scotty asked.

            He said nothing.

            “The same person who sent the data terminal,” Diego said, and locked eyes with the android.

            Sparta surveyed their surroundings, searching for people and robots who shouldn’t be listening to the conversation. “And if Zoran Voloshin is behind the data terminal and the pulse weapon, we are in a lot of danger.”

            They took turns exchanging expressions of confusion, but Madison did a quick search in the Star Nexus, and a bit of important information was discovered.

            “Oh wow. Doctor Zoran Voloshin is a renowned genetic engineer and space scientist. He founded the Voloshin Institute to study the effects of cybernetics on extraterrestrial life. After funds were cut to the program, he became an independent researcher dedicated to studying all things extraterrestrial.”

            Sparta said nothing.

            “Also, Zoran attempted to acquire the contract Galactic Research has with the federal government but was turned down. The Governor-General didn’t trust Zoran, believed he would exploit the Exoplanet program and just do bad things. Zoran declared war on the entire planet, and he has an ongoing piracy operation that centers on stealing data and the biological life that Galactic Research transfers to Earth. The piracy operation represents the machinations of a menacing and very dangerous tyrant.”

            “And he’s on his way here,” Scotty moaned. “Not good.”

            Then Joseph approached, appearing a lot more concerned than anyone on the patio. “Scott, I really need for you to try a build tonight because tomorrow I have to–”

            Scotty wrapped his arm across his brother’s shoulders to let him know that he had everything under control, but said, “I know tomorrow’s the last trial day, so let’s get to the lab.

            Thirty minutes later Joseph was in the Geneware server room and putting the final touches on a build Scotty had created and placed in alpha phase. It was called Jungle Veil and would be used with other camouflage builds to help cyborgs hide from danger. Joseph wasn’t too sure about using the Geneware to change the color of his face, but he understood that this was the easiest way, and besides, Scotty had installed an icon in his Helix that was literally a pushbutton power switch.    

            “Why won’t a build install to me on Fossil Crater, Scott?” Joseph asked. “I’m actually worried now.”

“Probably because you’re fighting it.”

“You think I’m fighting it?”

“You’ve been pushing back against GalReach since the day we arrived here.”

Joseph sat in a computer chair and thought about it for a few moments.

“All of that anger that you have is gonna cook you alive,” Scotty said. “So please, let it all go and help us find mom and dad.”

“I will.”

            Then Scotty touched the broadcast icon, and they both watched the progress bar for over ten minutes. When it was fully installed, Joseph’s face was green, black, and brown, with the colors arranged in a tiger stripe pattern. They both believed it was one of the coolest things they’d ever seen, but after only a few seconds of admiring the final product in a mirror, Joseph touched the icon with his index finger and watched intently as the camouflage slowly disappeared.

            “Finally! And I was worried that I wouldn’t be stuck in the Exoplanet program. Thanks so much, Scott. I owe you big now.”

            After spying Joseph’s eyes go moist with what might have been a run of tears, Scotty said, “I’ll tell Doctor Stryker the good news. Now, begin preparing to be a cyborg. It’s not too late.”

*

The next morning at the observatory, while reading an end-of-run report on the Gliese 532-star system, Scotty and Diego were creating a plan to ice the pulse weapon and thwart any machinations attempted by Zoran Voloshin. It wasn’t until Diego mentioned Reuven and the way he was using the Geneware to modify his body that Scotty recalled Aldrich and the TRAPPIST-1 fire moth emergency build.

            “I won’t let him be in the server room alone, not for a minute,” he said to Diego and Joseph. “I’m not gonna give him the chance to harm anything with the Geneware.”

            “You just make sure he doesn’t turn your hair into a curly mess,” Diego said.

            “Yeah, because the entire spaceport will be there watching.”

As the morning grew old, and his appointment with the Geneware server room drew nearer, Scotty’s thoughts began to wonder to Reuven and his machinations. If he was helping Zoran during his attempts at taking the Star Nexus and the technology Galactic Research was using to help the extraterrestrial animals survive on Earth, then he needed to be dealt with quickly and harshly.  

            Another strange phenomenon – and that was what Scotty called it – was the persistence of Reuven and Aldrich with their harassment and spying. He truly believed one or maybe both of them broadcasted the virus to his Helix, to try and keep him off balance and preoccupied. Rotations at the Exoplanet laboratory were eight hours of suffering, and Reuven seemed to enjoy the mean things he was doing to Scotty and his siblings. Was it possible that Reuven considered Scotty a rival who could bring an end to Zoran’s best laid schemes; his sinister plans? Scotty wasn’t too sure about that, but he wondered if Reuven was more than a loyal follower.

*

Scotty wanted Stryker to push the TRAPPIST-1 fire moth emergency session back so he’d have more time to prepare. His thoughts returned to Sparta and the Star Nexus, and the desire to revisit the Astraeus Laboratory quickly became overpowering. An examination of the data terminal was needed even if it meant getting into trouble, and if he could shut down the self-destruct device, he would do that at any cost. 

            Hayley was sharing a workstation with Aldrich and Victoria, who were surprised to see that Scotty had showed, and to see that both Artemis and Hermes were in attendance. Scotty quickly understood that they were there to help Stryker and Exozoologist Slade ensure the builds were written and broadcasted successfully.

            The entire spaceport showed at the Exoplanet laboratory, and the Geneware server room was packed with researchers. The androids were all there, and Sparta chose a spot close to Scotty’s workstation. Atop the metal worktable were two TRAPPIST-1 fire moths. Sitting inside separate bird cages, they whipped up beautiful blue flames atop their wings.  

            “This is a priority project,” Hermes said. “Creativity and attention to detail are of the upmost importance for the quality of this build.”

            “We know that,” Aldrich said. “The greatest minds are assembled.”

            Niles Winter and John Choi suddenly erupted with laughter, but Julian Rowe and Lucas Boden applauded by clapping their hands and whistling.

            Then Slade addressed the group. “The atmospheric pressure here on planet Earth is quite a bit more than on TRAPPIST-1 d. The only way to save these critters is to create something stellar for them.”

            “Ah, you both made it,” Stryker said.

You are reading story J.C. Warren: Scotty Astrophel and the Star Nexus at novel35.com

            Scotty moved his gaze beyond the server racks and spied Doctor Stratton and Doctor Amherst as they pushed their way through the crowd, smiling and shaking hands with everyone.

            An awful suspicion coiled around Scotty as he realized that Reuven was the only staff member not in attendance. Why did he decide to not watch this important event? Where was he at, and what was he doing?

            Probably was the reason Aldrich had fixed his gaze on Scotty and was beaming with happiness and comfort.  

            “Okay, almost everyone is here to watch the team in action,” Stryker announced. “You four know what to do nowadays, so let us get started and create something wonderful. Thompson, Spinster, and Kita, you are assigned, Shadow. Astrophel, you are assigned, Storm.”

            Scotty energized his Helix to find an ominous message floating in the display: You’ll be the reason the Trappist fire moths go up in flames.

            Aldrich hit him with a sinister grin and rocked forward in the computer chair.

            “I hope you guys have your bags packed. A flight leaves tonight around ten, but if you miss it, you can hitchhike back to Sydney.”

            Scotty paid him little attention. What he did instead was type into the developers’ terminal and crank out line after line with ease and speed. He had the fix envisioned, so all he had to do was create the build and ensure there were no corrupted lines of code. With help from the Geneware and the androids, it might be packaged and broadcasted in less than two hours.

            “I haven’t forgot about your background, Snotty,” Aldrich said ten minutes into the session as Slade and Artemis helped Victoria modify an incredibly complicated build. “The staff is helping you look like a success here at The Zoo because of who your dad is, but back home you were a crook. He created Geneware to help extraterrestrials survive, but you were using it to make money and intimidate people, and once released, you’ll return to your old ways.”

            “Shut up, Aldrich,” Scotty mumbled, trying not to draw any attention.

             “You can’t protect yourself from who you are. You’re a crook, and you’re not above humiliating people and scarring them mentally. And I know you will turn on GalReach someday, for money too.”

            “Drop it,” Scotty growled, but it was all a whisper.

            Thirty minutes later Aldrich reviewed the hologram in his mockup.

            “And another thing, Snotty,” he chided, “when placed in danger you’ll run, and you won’t care who gets harmed, even if it’s the little Crippled Chicken.”

            Scotty scrambled to his feet and took Aldrich’s shirt collar in his hands, pulled him close, and peered into his face. Aldrich of course smiled during the exchange.

            “When the danger starts, the first thing I’ll have to do is drag you away from your hiding spot.”

            The entire room fell silent.

            Both Stryker and Stratton approached to investigate and cool things down.

            “Break it up,” Stratton said. “Both of you, stay focused on the task at hand.”

            Hayley and Victoria ushered Aldrich to their workstation to discuss their build and to help keep him out of trouble. They had shelved their first build and were shoring up a big one that would allow the TRAPPIST-1 fire moths to collapse their lungs and breathe through their own epidermis.

            “We’re ready, Ms. Slade,” Victoria said.

            Stryker and Slade critiqued the build and allowed Aldrich to broadcast it to Shadow.

            “Attention, everyone,” Stryker said. “Shadow is in the process of receiving a build developed by Thompson, Spinster, and Kita.”

            “Oh no,” Diego said. “What if it actually works?”

            “It’s not fair,” Jasmine said. “It’s three against one.”

            Nothing at first, then suddenly the fire moth wiggled, twitched, and fluttered its wings, and the two tiny flames waned away and vanished. Nothing spectacular, but the poor thing appeared to be in a bit of pain.

            “The build is corrupted,” Sparta shouted. “We must monitor the fire moths’ vital signs.”

Hermes approached the birdcage for a closer look and decided that the extraterrestrial was in distress. He turned to Aldrich, his anger building. “Delete the build immediately.”

            “What! But guys-”

            Stryker turned to Aldrich, his face set like stone. “Delete everything you did, Thompson!”

            “I knew it wouldn’t install correctly,” Madison said.

            “Yeah, his builds never work right.”

Scotty returned to his build to continue working through a small problem he’d been presented with.

            A catch-22 if there ever was one. His build centered on the moths sporting an exoskeleton they’d use as protection from the atmospheric pressure on planet Earth, but there was a serious flaw. The exoskeleton was strong enough to protect the moths, but the exoskeleton’s strain energy was enough to crush the moths as they grew. The required tensile strength was just too much. What to do about this problem, and he had only an hour to finish the build.

            All at once it dawned on him. Scotty would program the moths’ cuticula to separate from the epidermis and then form a new exoskeleton of larger dimensions. He would give the TRAPPIST-1 fire moths the miracle of ecdysis, and they’d molt just like a cicada. It was genius, and his build would surely be the chosen one.

            He went back to work; typing, editing, and scrutinizing the hologram in his mockup. A thirty-second breather to gather his thoughts and then back to creating lines of code. At record speed too, and in only twenty minutes he was ready to show off his finished product.

            “I call it the Exoskeleton Build,” Scotty said in a tone only a warrior would use. “It’s ready to package and broadcast.”

            “Well, by all means, broadcast that build to Storm,” Slade said.

            He did, and the Exoskeleton Build downloaded in less than five minutes. The results were immediate too. Before the entire spaceport, a brilliant light radiated out of Storm and rippled across the server room in waves of green, red, and blue. The fire moth’s blue flames never flickered, and it hardly ever moved. The entire server room was hushed down to a captivated silence. Stryker, Stratton, Slade, and Hermes approached Storm and saw that nothing bad was happening, and everyone was sure that the build was a success.

            Aldrich, Hayley, and Victoria hit Scotty with dirty looks but kept their seats.

            Slade removed Storm from the birdcage and gave it a thorough examination. Its thorax and abdomen felt like a piece of plastic, flexible but tough like armor. She showed Scotty’s build off to a few in the crowd and then returned it to the birdcage. 

            Both Artemis and Hermes reviewed both builds and scrutinized their strengths and weaknesses, and why one had failed. This process took ten additional minutes, but after the entire staff conducted a sidebar, a decision was made.

            The entire staff approached Scotty.

            “Congratulations, good sir!” Stryker said, and he was behaving eccentrically. “I am pleased to see you have been volunteering your weekends to the Cybernetics program, writing and practicing, I still have you nominated for architect of the year.”

            Generous applause filled the Geneware server room.

            Hermes remained in the server room to verify that the fire moths did not experience any medical complications – they didn’t – but Artemis helped celebrate the crowning achievement inside Stryker’s office. Scotty had mastered his parents’ Geneware, and he would certainly propel the Cybernetics program light years upward and forward. Fossil Crater was headed to a place no one had ever been to but only imagined and then spawned into existence as science fiction movies and television shows. However, the Astrophels were on the cusp of experiencing unknown fear and danger through a reality that was not the product of a writer’s imagination.

*

Scotty left the laboratory during the office party to return to the observatory. He was experiencing emotions he wasn’t familiar with, and he couldn’t remember feeling so much pride and satisfaction with his life. The Cybernetics program was moving in leaps and bounds, and he wasn’t just one of the programmers, he was the best programmer Stryker had ever assigned to the team. The night air smelled sweet and lush, as the Altair palm trees and the Wolf 359 blue ferns had been soaked by one of Electra’s rainclouds. As the little thunderhead floated away in a warm desert breeze, he thought about the TRAPPIST-1 fire moths, about how much better their lives will be now that he’d written the Exoskeleton Build.

            From the perimeter road, the spaceport stood in silhouette against the Milky Way. The old umbilical towers and lighting masts delineated the launch complex, their aviation lamps emitting out slivers of red light. The Cybernetics program was a success, and he’d proved himself to the staff, including Reuven. Even though he’d decided to not show, he would hear of what had happened and he would, he would…

            Reuven was out and about that night.

            A mysterious creature moved quickly through the tangles of light and shadow on the west side of the road. Never spying Scotty, it shuffled through the turnstile gate and walked toward the Astraeus Laboratory. The TRAPPIST-1 fire moths drifted to a shadowy corner of his mind as he considered what was occurring. He recognized the rogue immediately; would have spotted him a mile away. It seemed as if Reuven had business more important than Galactic Research, and it involved the laboratory.

            Scotty pulled his keycard from his blouse and walked as fast as he could. Easing through the turnstile gate he watched Reuven hurry into the laboratory. He sprinted to the door.

            Standing at the entranceway, Scotty heard nothing. He eased the door open and tiptoed into the airlock. Suddenly, voices echoed from a distance, and he recognized them both. He crossed the tiled floor and silently walked down the accessway.

            He located an open door and stepped inside the room, into a bubble of darkness and a mix of strange odors.

            Before him, in a dimly lit concourse, stood Reuven and Tarsus. Reuven peered into his Helix, and they both seemed to be angry. Scotty listened carefully, as they were discussing something important.

            “I broadcasted the virus like you instructed me to, sir,” Tarsus said. “Researcher Astrophel’s Helix should be useless.”

            “Well, not only is it up and running,” Reuven growled, “as you can see, he has an uplink to the Star Nexus, and he shouldn’t have an uplink to the Star Nexus, should he.”

            “Sir, you know I am not the only one-”

            Reuven cut him off. “I really don’t want to hear your excuses.”

            “-who has access to the Star Nexus servers and can clone a software program and then broadcast it out to a Helix.”

            “Well, it appears as if someone is working harder than you are.”

            Scotty drifted back into the room as they had stopped whispering.

            “And Zoran is on his way here, and when he gets here, you’ll have to explain to him why he’ll have to share the Star Nexus.”

            Tarsus appeared to become extremely nervous after receiving that bit of bad news.

            “We do not have to tell him, sir. The less he knows the safer the spaceport will be.”

            Reuven hit him with a dirty look. “He’s activated the self-destruct technology in the data terminal. If things don’t go his way, he won’t shut it off.”

            Tarsus energized his Helix. “Then I will continue developing the secret weapon so you will be able to survive anything that is thrown at us. I will also make Scotty Astrophel disappear.”

             “Yes, you do that and make it quick. You have three days, or I’ll be forced to decommission you.”

            “I will have everything ready in forty-eight hours.”

            “Good, and I’ll be checking your progress every evening.”

            Reuven deactivated his Helix and walked out of the laboratory. Tarsus however, disappeared deep into the lower levels to continue his work in privacy. Scotty had once caught them red-handed in the server room, and Tarsus was not going to allow it to happen again. 

*

Jasmine opened the door for Scotty, her face beaming with joy. “Scott, did you hear the good news?” 

            “The Exoskeleton Build downloaded and installed one hundred percent perfect, and the TRAPPIST fire moths are the talk of Fossil Crater,” Joseph said, bumping fists with Scotty. “Hayley and Vicky are in their rooms and won’t speak to anyone, and Aldrich is threatening to resign and hitch his way home.”

            Then Diego approached, smiling and shaking his head in disbelief. “Stryker is calling you a pioneer of cybernetics.”

            “Who would’ve thunk it,” Madison said.

            Scotty couldn’t muster a grin for any of them. He was too shaken up to help celebrate. “I’m afraid I have some bad news, everyone. Sparta wasn’t bluffing, I just discovered who the bad guys are on the spaceport.”

            He sat on Joseph’s bed and told them everything he’d seen and heard inside the Astraeus Laboratory but for Tarsus plotting his early departure.

            “Let me get this straight,” Diego said. “Reuven knew the data terminal could explode, and he didn’t tell any of us that night in the exoculture room? You know, I never did like him.”

            “And Tarsus is helping with it all,” Madison said. “It all makes me so angry.”

            “Well, what’s in it for Reuven?” Joseph asked.

            “Probably a fortune if he sells everything that’s on Fossil Crater,” Scotty said, and everyone agreed.

            “Bad guys can’t have access to the Star Nexus,” Jasmine said.

            “He’ll use it to do bad things,” Madison said.

            “But if we keep him from getting it, he’ll destroy the spaceport,” Diego said.

            “Not if we can shut down the pulse weapon,” Scotty said.

            “Wow, we are so in over our heads,” Jasmine said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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